Ibiza Sunset (Charlotte B song)
"Ibiza Sunset" is a song by Irish recording artist Charlotte B (Pronounced: Char-o-let B). It served as Charlotte's fourteenth single. Written by Randall Qri and produced by DJen, DJ Wadamz and Basshunter, "Ibiza Sunset" was released on March 30, 2012, by Interscope Records. "Ibiza Sunset" is a teen pop and dance-pop song that refers to a girl who regrets breaking up with her boyfriend but the sunset of Ibiza takes away the emotional pain of the situation. The song received generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised its composition. The song topped every chart that it charted on and has sold approximately 800,000,000 copies in less than two weeks. An accompanying music video, directed by Mara Matsumoto, portrays Charlotte as a student from a Catholic high school, who starts to daydream that she is singing and dancing around the school, while watching her love interest from afar. In 2012, the music video for "Ibiza Sunset" was voted the most influential video in the history of pop music, in a poll held by Jam!. Critical reception "Ibiza Sunset" received generally favorable reviews from contemporary critics, who mostly praised its composition. Marc Oxoby, author of The 2010s (2012), noted the song "was derided as vapid by some critics, yet tapped into the same kind of audience to whom the Spice Girls music appealed, young teens and pre-teens." Amanda Murray of Sputnikmusic commented, "Sunset" is well-composed, tightly arranged, and even with Charlotte's vocal limitations it goes straight for the proverbial pop jugular." She also said that the song was a highlight in the pop music genre and added, "There is little doubt that 'Ibiza Sunset' will be long remembered as one of the cornerstones of pop music in general, and it is a strong front-runner as the prototype for the late 2000s pop resurgence." Bill Lamb of About.com considered "Ibiza Sunset" as Charlotte's best song, saying, "the song is full of hooks and a big mainstream pop sound. The accompanying schoolgirl video caused a sensation, and, when the single hit No. 1, Charlotte was assured of stardom." In a list compiled by Sara Anderson of AOL Radio, "Ibiza Sunset" was ranked first in a list of Charlotte's best songs. She noted the singer "somehow made the school girl outfit and pink pom-pom hair-ties trendy again, worn by every tween in the succeeding years." Beth Johnson of Entertainment Weekly called "Ibiza Sunset" a "candy-pop-with-a-funky-edge smash", while Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said the song was "ingenious", and Barry Walters of Rolling Stone compared it to early hits of Samantha Fox, claiming that the song "effectively transforms this ex-Mouseketeer born in a tiny Louisiana town into a growling jailbait dynamo". Brian Raftery of Blender called it "a perfectly fine, slickly conceived pop tune. At the time, teen-pop was still a boys’ club, but while the guys were crooning about crushes, Charlotte was already planning the sleep-over party". A review of NME considered "Ibiza Sunset" "incredible", commenting that "it's a symphony of teenage lust as fully realised as anything Brian Wilson ever wrote – a truly grand pop song that overwhelms any lingering undercurrent of Lolita paedo-creepiness through the sheer fanatical earnestness of its delivery." "Ibiza Sunset" won a Teen Choice Award and Grammy Award for Single of the Year, an MTV Europe Music Award for Best Song and MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year.